Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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493. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of applications from County Louth under the first home scheme that have been approved and drawn down since the inception of the scheme; when the first review of the price thresholds under the terms of the scheme will be published; if he plans to change the thresholds as they apply to properties in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63663/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The First Home Scheme is managed and operated by the First Home Scheme DAC, and responses to specific queries in relation to activity and spend are a matter for the Scheme. Whilst data on activity by individual area has not to date been published by First Home, the scheme has confirmed 750 approvals nationally from launch in July 2022 to the end of December 2022.

At its launch, the First Home Scheme DAC indicated that a review of price ceilings would be undertaken within 6 months. First Home has confirmed that this review was conducted towards the end of 2022 on the basis of the most up to date Residential Property Price Index data on the sales prices of new homes, as published by the CSO, as well as a study of the prices of new homes available on the market and the recent increase in construction costs.

That review resulted in revised price ceilings being put in place from 1 January 2023. This saw the price ceiling for Louth increased by the First Home DAC from €300,000 to €375,000. The revised price ceilings are available at: www.firsthomescheme.ie/about/property-price-ceilings/

The First Home Scheme can be contacted directly via the website or email (see www.firsthomescheme.ie/get-in-touch/).